Shadow Hunters
by RogueSnyper
Summary: What if something happened a little different on Tatooine in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace? This is my version. A new person, a bounty hunter no less, buys Anakin, his mother, and the part the Jedi need. Read to see how this unfolds.
1. Chapter 1

**Shadow Hunters**

AN: I saw the Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and it gave me the inspiration to write a Star Wars fanfiction. This is the result. I didn't want to start at the seventh movie, but at the beginning. As such, I'm hoping to stretch the story throughout the entire series.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any part of this.

 **===Begin Chapter===**

Anakin Skywalker, a slave, was on his way back to Watto's after delivering a part that someone had bought to docking bay 5, when he heard a metallic crash, followed by laughter and cursing. He followed the noise to bay 15 and saw four people sitting around a table playing cards and laughing while a fifth was laying on the ground under a black dynamic-class freighter with a symbol similar to the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders (will be referred to as MNC) and holding his head with a metal coupler and a wrench laying next to him. He groaned and sat up, picked the wrench up, and chucked it at the four card players.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You know I'll get you back."

Anakin then got a good look at the fifth man's face and recognized him. It wasn't just the features that gave him away, like the blood red eyes, which was an odd thing to find in a human, but it was the tattoo on the left side of his face and the three scars that ran parallel to each other from above his left temple to the right side of his chin. The middle scar went over his left eye and the tattoo was a tribal dragon. This man was a notorious bounty hunter known as Kaiser Drakon. He was the leader of a group of bounty hunters and the group was known as Shadow Hunters. He turned to leave before he was-

"Hey, kid. What are you doing here?"

-noticed. Making a decision, Anakin took off running. He didn't get very far before he ran into what felt like a brick wall and fell to the ground. Then, as his eyes were coming back into focus, something grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him up. "Boss asked you a question," said the being that picked him up. When his eyes finally focused, he saw that it was a Trandoshan that had picked him up. However, it wasn't just a Trandoshan. This Trandoshan was a member of the Shadow Hunters and was known as Krix. "I'll say it again. Boss asked you a question."

Anakin looked around in a panic and saw that the four who had previously been playing cards were standing in a semi-circle with their pistols drawn and Kaiser was now standing to his right, but didn't have a weapon drawn. "I-I-I h-heard a c-crash a-and w-w-wanted to s-see w-what h-happened. P-please d-don't hurt me."

Krix didn't look satisfied, but Kaiser spoke. "Krix, put the kid down. Kid, it's okay, but what's your name?"

 _'If I tell him, something bad might happen to mom, but if I don't, he might hurt me,'_ Anakin thought. "D-do y-you p-promise nothing will h-happen to my family?" he asked, gaining confidence. Kaiser nodded. "M-my name is Anakin Skywalker."

Recognition appeared in Kaiser's eyes. "Skywalker? Are you related to Shmi Skywalker perchance?"

Anakin nodded slowly. "She's my mom. Why?"

Suddenly, Kaiser was eye-level with Anakin and had his hands on Anakin's shoulders. "Where is she?"

"Why?"

"I'll tell you and her at the same time. Is she still a slave?"

"Yes." Anakin flinched slightly when Kaiser's eyes flashed in anger. "I need to get back to work for Watto. He owns both of us."

Kaiser released Anakin's shoulders and stood up. "Krix, come with me. The rest of you, stay with the ship." The Shadow hunters nodded and Kaiser whistled. Two black hounds ran out of the ship and slowed to a stop at Kaiser's heels. "Kid, meet Ghost," the taller of the two hounds perked up slightly at his name, "and Wraith." The smaller hound perked up. "They're Vornskrs and my partners. Now then, you, me, Krix, Ghost, and Wraith are going to see Watto. I'm in need of a few parts and he owes me for several things."

Anakin led the four through the streets of Mos Espa to Watto's shop. As soon as they were through the door, Anakin took off to work in the back. Kaiser and Krix walked up to the counter while Ghost and Wraith prowled the shop. A short time after Anakin went through a door to the back, a blue Toydarian hovered through to the front.

He hovered to the counter before speaking. "The boy says you're in need of some parts and claims I owe you. Me thinks I owe you nothing. So, what is you..." He trailed off upon seeing the two Vornskrs walking around the shop. "What are those things doing in here? Get them out or I won't sell-" **click** Kaiser had drawn one of his Westar 34's and switched it off of safety. "N-now, n-now. N-no n-need to get hasty. Me thinks I w-was a little h-hasty. W-we talk business n-now." **click** Watto sighed in relief as the safety clicked back on and the pistol was holstered.

"I'm in need of a stabilizer, a metal power coupling, and two specific slaves that go by the names of Anakin Skywalker and Shmi Skywalker."

"The first to things are easy to get for you. Me thinks you don't have enough to buy all four things though, hehehe." **click** Watto paled slightly as the safety clicked off on a Westar 34. "I can sell them to for no less than 1000 peggats."

"I'll go no higher than 500."

"900 then." **click** Krix's dual C-M Deadbolt pistols switched off safety. "850, no lower!" **click** Kaiser's second Westar 34 switched off safety. "800," squeaked Watto.

Kaiser paused and thought. "Toss in a T-14 Hyperdrive Generator and you have a deal."

Watto was opened his mouth to either refuse or raise the price, but closed his mouth and nodded when Krix and Kaiser pointed their pistols at him and the two Vornskrs started to growl from either side of him. "Fine, take them." Watto hovered lower and pulled out a box that he set on the counter and slid it to Kaiser, who opened it to find the slave implant remover and controls. Watto hovered off and returned with a power coupling and a stabilizer before moving to the back of the shop to retrieve Anakin. The two returned a short time after.

Anakin looked at Kaiser. "Watto says you own me now." Kaiser nodded and Anakin looked down sadly.

"I also..persuaded Watto to see your mom to me as well." Anakin cheered up at that. Kaiser put the stabilizer and power coupling in a bag and handed it to Anakin. "Keep up with that. Watto, take us to the hyperdrive." Watto hovered to the hyperdrive and smirked, thinking that they wouldn't be able to transport it to wherever their ship was. Kaiser smirked back and nodded to Krix, who smirked as well and easily picked up the hyperdrive. "Krix, take that back to the ship and put it in the cargo hold. We'll be there tomorrow. I have a feeling we'll need that hyperdrive and stay overnight."

Krix grinned slightly. "More of your precognition?" Kaiser nodded and Krix's grin grew as he headed off to their ship.

Kaiser turned to Anakin. "Let's go get your mom and start packing your things." Anakin nodded and left the shop with Kaiser and his partners behind him. They walked into the main room of the shop and Anakin was surprised to see that Krix was already gone. Kaiser noticed his surprise and grinned. "Krix is very strong and fast, not to mention quiet. By now he's probably back at the ship." Anakin's jaw dropped. He quickly closed his mouth and continued through the shop and around a new group of customers. Kaiser kept an ear on the conversation between the oldest of the group and Watto.

"I'm looking for a T-14 Hyperdrive for a Nubian J-Type 327." The man held out a handheld holograph projector and pressed a button to show a 3D image of their ship.

"Me thinks you're out of luck. That man their bought the only one I had and no one else has a T-14 Hyperdrive, I can tell you that." Watto said while pointing at Kaiser. The man looked before turning back to Watto.

"Thanks for the help anyways." When the man turned, Kaiser and Anakin were no longer in the shop. He hurried to the exit with his group following him. Outside, the man quickly scanned the area, looking for Kaiser. He was about to run off to find him when a voice spoke up behind him.

"I know that you're looking for a part that I just bought. Come with me and we can make a deal." The man turned around and saw Kaiser leaning against the wall by the door with Anakin beside him. "Before that though, what's your name?"

"I'm Qui-gon Jinn."

Kaiser stepped away from the wall and leaned towards Qui-gon's ear. "I know that you're a Jedi. So long as you don't draw your saber or use the force on me, my crew, the boy, or his mother, or my familiars, we'll be perfectly fine. Attack any one person from that list and you don't get the part," Kaiser whispered. He stepped back from Qui-gon. "Alright kid, let's go to your home. I'll help you pack and these people don't have time to get to their ship before that sandstorm hits." Anakin looked at where Kaiser pointed and nodded before walking to his home. Along the way, Kaiser took the bag with the two small parts he bought from Anakin and slung it over his shoulder.

As Anakin entered his house, he yelled to Shmi. "Mom, I'm home and I brought guests." He then took off to his room to start packing. Shmi came around a corner and saw four people and a droid.

"Welcome to our home, but why did Anakin bring you here?" 

Kaiser spoke first. "One reason is to dodge the sandstorm. I'll explain the other later."

Shmi nodded. "Alright. Well, dinner's ready. I'll get Anakin and then we can eat."

Moments later, they were sitting at a table and eating. Kaiser was the first to speak. "Qui-gon, would you mind introducing your friends?"

Qui-gon sighed and nodded. "The girl is Padme and the Gungan is JarJar Binks."

Before anyone else could say anything, Padme, who had been staring at Kaiser's tattoo and scars, along with Shmi, spoke. "Why do you have that tattoo and scars?"

Kaiser looked at her before speaking. "I made a mistake once. The scars are a reminder of that mistake. The tattoo is something that everyone in my blood family does."

"You never told me your name," Shmi said.

"Forgive me for not doing so earlier. My name is Kaiser Drakon."

"What do you do for a living?" Padme asked.

"I'm a bounty hunter, as is my team, and somewhat of a smuggler. Ever heard of the Shadow Hunters?"

Padme and Shmi nodded, Jarjar shook his head, and Qui-gon did nothing. Padme opened her mouth to speak, but Shmi cut her off. "They are notorious for always getting the job done for the highest pay. Apparently, the leader has a dragon tattoo and three diagonal scars on his face and is known as...Kaiser...Drakon..." She trailed off. Kaiser grinned, Shmi and Padme paled, Jarjar screamed and curled into a ball in a corner, while Qui-gon and Anakin did nothing. Qui-gon had suspected this and Anakin had already known.

The topic was changed and Kaiser had turned to watch Ghost and Wraith sniffing the ball known as Jarjar before they curled up next to it and went to sleep. Somehow, Shmi, Qui-gon, and Padme had gotten onto the topic of slaves.

"Why don't you just leave?" Padme asked.

"We can't," Shmi said. "There are implants that will kills us if we try. All we can hope for is that we end up with a good master or that someone will set us free. However, with Watto, I don't think we'll be in good hands any time soon."

"That reminds me, mom," Anakin interrupted. "Watto-"

"Kid," Kaiser interrupted Anakin, "I'll take it from here." Kaiser turned back to the table and faced Shmi. "I'll start at the beginning. I was working on my ship while my crew was doing different things. A part fell out and hit me on the head and the noise drew your son to our hanger bay. He was on his way back to Watto's after delivering something to a different bay. When we noticed him, I asked him a question and he took off running. Ran right into Krix. After he finally gave us an answer, he took us to Watto's, where I bought the two parts I needed, a hyperdrive, and two slaves. You and Anakin. I was originally coming here to help you pack so we could leave, but then these three and their droid showed up. Work on packing your things. We'll leave tomorrow. Is there a place where Qui-gon and I can speak in private?"

The faces of Shmi and Padme cycled through horror, surprise, and anger. Shmi sat in silence for a moment. "Yes, there is. Anakin, can you take these two to the balcony." Anakin knew it wasn't a request and nodded.

When Qui-gon and Kaiser were alone, they remained silent. "Something's coming. We both can feel it," Kaiser said and Qui-gon nodded in agreement. "Now then, let's make that deal."

"What do you want in return for the hyperdrive?" Qui-gon questioned.

"I want two favors that will be decided in the future and 2,000 credits, but if you will hire us to escort you to Coruscant and Naboo as well as help take out the federation, I will lower the price to 1,000. If you can guarantee that we will receive future contracts with you, then I will drop the favors completely."

"Can I contact my Padawan, the Jedi Council, and the Queen for help in making this decision?"

"Of course. I'll return in thirty minutes. Do you want me to send Padme up?"

Qui-gon stiffened slightly. "So you noticed it too." It wasn't a question.

Kaiser chuckled. "No, I didn't. It was her eyes. They have the look of a leader, a queen."

"To answer your question, yes, please send her up."

Kaiser nodded and walked back to the table. "Padme, Qui-gon needs to speak with you. I'm sure that Anakin can show you the way." He shifted his gaze to Anakin, who nodded left with Padme before returning a moment later. "Shmi, do really not remember me?" Shmi shook her head. "We met a long time ago and I promised that I would free you." Recognition appeared in Shmi's eyes as she leapt at Kaiser and pulled him into a hug and began to sob. Kaiser comforted her and calmed her down before going back to Qui-gon thirty minutes later. As he was ascending the stairs, Padme was going down. He nodded to her and she returned it. He made sure the door was closed before speaking. "What's your answer, Qui-gon?"

"We agree, on one condition."

"I'm all ears." 

"This condition is by me only. If I cannot convince the Jedi Council to allow me to train Anakin as a Jedi, will you take him and train him as a part of your crew?"

"I was planning on training him anyways. Why do you want to train him?"

"I can feel he is strong in the force."

"I know. I'm a force sensitive. I also know his midi-chlorian count. It's over 20,000. When I was questioning him earlier, I secretly took a blood sample and had my crew check it and tell me the results." Qui-gon's jaw dropped at the number. "Anyways, we have a deal. When everything is loaded on my ship tomorrow, we'll take you to your ship and help install the drive." Kaiser went to the door and paused. "Anakin and Shmi will be staying in my ship until the Naboo crisis is over." Kaiser went inside, leaving Qui-gon to his thought.

When Shmi was assigning beds, she tried to get Kaiser to take hers, but he refused. He insisted that she and Padme share the bed and Qui-gon would get the guest bed while he slept on the floor with Ghost and Wraith. Shmi relented and they all went to sleep. The next day, they woke early and ate a small breakfast before helping Shmi and Anakin pack. When they were almost done, Kaiser contacted his crew. "I need Krix and Dar to come to my location. You can bring two small weapons, but we're moving things from this place to our ship. The two slaves I've bought will be coming as well."

" _Copy."_

" _On our way."_

Krix and Dar appeared a short time later. They grabbed nearly all the boxes. Qui-gon, Kaiser, and Anakin picked up the remaining boxes and the entire group went to the Shadow Hunters' ship. As they entered the bay, Anakin noticed that the crew members now wore their armor. All the armor was similar. It was Mandalorian made and had the group's MNC symbol over the left breast. The foreground of the symbol contained a T shaped skull and the background has a circle with spikes coming out at different angles (Mandalorian Neo Crusaders symbol). Anakin also noticed that the symbol was on the front of the ship as well. The main difference between each person's armor was the paint scheme. One was mainly crimson red with blue as the secondary. Another was yellow for the main with green as the secondary. One walked down the ramp wearing armor with the main color as a dark forest green and a secondary forest brown, but his armor had additional dark shades of green and brown to create a sort of forest camouflage. Krix, Dar, and Kaiser led the way to the cargo-hold, where all five set down the boxes. The ship was loaded and cleared for take off within ten minutes after that and Kaiser led Qui-gon to the cockpit so he could direct them to the Queen's ship.

They swept over the desert sand, guided by the pilots' experienced hands, and landed next to the Queen's ship. They lowered the ramp and Kaiser led the way down, followed by Padme, Jarjar, Qui-gon, and R2-D2.

As he was in the lead, Kaiser was the first to notice the blasters aimed at him and his ship. He held his hands up, showing he meant no harm. "No need to get hasty. I mean, I did bring your group back as well as a part you need."

The blasters didn't waiver, nor did they lower. Padme stepped around Kaiser. "At ease. They did, are, and will help us." Slowly, the blasters lowered.

"My apologies, we weren't sure if this was the correct ship or group," said a dark colored man.

"It is fine, Captain Panaka." Padme and Jarjar walked into the Queen's ship talking with Panaka as Qui-gon's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, walked out and down the ramp. He stood by Qui-gon and spoke quietly with him.

"Krix, Bao, Echo! Get their busted drive out and the new one in pronto!" yelled Kaiser. Krix walked down the ramp, easily carrying the new hyperdrive, followed by a Weequay, wearing blue and white mandalorian armor, and an astromech droid labeled R2-H7, but known as Echo. In short order, the broken hyperdrive was tossed out of the ship and the new one installed perfectly. Krix tossed the broken hyperdrive in the cargo bay of the dynamic-class freighter. As Kaiser was approaching Qui-gon and Obi-Wan, he suddenly faced the east.

Qui-gon turned as well. "I feel it too. Obi-Wan, get on the ship and tell them to take off. Now!" Obi-Wan scrambled to the Queen's ship to follow his master's orders.

Kaiser simply yelled over his shoulder. "Get to your group's ship and get them ready for take off. Those of the Queen's group, go ahead and get airborne. I'll bring Qui-gon." A moment later, the two ships lifted off and the ramp of the Shadow Hunter's ship was down with one of the members at the end. He threw a silver cylinder through the air to Kaiser, who caught it. "Qui-gon, I'll explain later, but right now, we have to stall long enough so that my crew can get our guns warmed up to get enough room for as to jump aboard."

Qui-gon nodded and froze briefly when a white lightsaber hummed to life. He lit his as well, and just in time to deflect a red saber from detaching his head. Suddenly, he was on the defensive as the Sith was on him, attacking relentlessly. When he missed a block, due to the young Sith's speed, a white saber intercepted it and put the Sith on the defensive, allowing Qui-gon to catch his breath and analyze both Kaiser and his opponent. Kaiser lacked any technique, merely using speed, strength, agility, and battle experience to relentlessly push back the Sith, leaving no openings big enough for most to take advantage of. He then traded off with Qui-gon, who had leapt back into the fray. They went back and forth several times before Kaiser briefly locked eyes with Qui-gon and nodded. Kaiser struck twice and savagely shoved the Sith off balance and Qui-gon used the Force to push him further away. Both Kaiser and Qui-gon deactivated their sabers and turned. Qui-gon Force jumped to the ramp and Kaiser used his jetpack. He had changed into his gear during the fly across the desert. They walked up the ramp as it closed, cutting off the sound of the ship's guns firing at the Sith, forcing him to flee.

Kaiser and Qui-gon walked to the main hold. "I said I'd explain later, and its later. My lightsaber is not the lightsaber of a dead Jedi or Sith, nor even a living one. I found instructions on how to create a lightsaber and created one, but I was missing one piece: the crystal. I didn't want to synth a crystal as that would link me to the Sith. I don't want that as that's bad for business. I didn't know where the Jedi went for crystals, so I couldn't do that either. I did, however, find something that would work completely by accident. We had landed in Mos Espa and I was mad. I took a speeder and went into the desert to blow off some steam. I parked my speeder near a canyon and climbed down. I took my frustration out on the canyon walls for several hours when a Kryat Dragon came upon me. I guess it was trying to find what was making all the noise. Long story short, I fought and killed the dragon and took the four pearls I found. I gave the body to a group of Tusken Raiders that followed the noise and kept only the pearls. I created two sabers and two guns. Two of the pearls were white and the other two were black. I used on of each in a saber and the other two in the guns. The saber blades reflect that of the pearl inside it. The guns, on the other hand, received different effects. The one with the white pearl enhances the shots where they shoot further and can pierce easier. The one with the black changed the shots to where they explode on contact." Kaiser yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Someone wake me when we get there if I'm not already." He left the room, but left his helmet sitting on a table.

Qui-gon went to find a bed as well, followed by Shmi. Anakin, however, was content to sit and listen to Krix, Dar, and Bao tell stories. When Bao went to bed, Anakin noticed Kaiser's helmet. Krix followed his gaze and grinned. Dar had simply fallen asleep in his chair. Anakin slowly approached the helmet and picked it up. He turned it around and slipped it on his head. However, because his head wasn't as big as Kaiser's, the helmet fell to far down, obscuring his vision. Krix chuckled and took the helmet off Anakin's head. "Why don't you go find a bed and sleep for a bit." Anakin nodded and walked off.

 **===Time Skip===**

The rest of the trip passed without much happening. Shmi had become part of the crew, but Qui-gon had convinced Anakin and Kaiser to hold off on inducting the boy into the crew so that he could be tested as a Jedi. Once the two ships had permission to land, the Shadow Hunter ship led the way and landed with the Queen's ship close behind.

The welcoming party contained a surprise for the two Jedi that had gone to help the Queen. Not only was the Senator for Naboo there with a few guards, but two Jedi from the Jedi Council. As everyone disembarked from the two spaceships, Kaiser strolled over to the two Jedi Masters.

Kaiser bowed towards the dark skinned Jedi. "Master Windu." He turned towards Yoda and held out a box. "As requested from my last visit, old friend, a box of the best Mandalorian tea."

Yoda took the box with a smile. "My thanks, you have. Well, you are?"

Kaiser nodded. "We've done very well and have gained a new crew member. We would have two, but Qui-gon wants the boy to be tested. If you decide against training him, he will be coming with me as a part of my crew." 

Yoda nodded. "Come. Talk more, we shall, at the temple."

Kaiser nodded and walked beside Yoda and Mace Windu to their transport, ignoring everyone else. Yoda then climbed up Kaiser's side and perched on his back. Kaiser chuckled while Qui-gon and Obi-Wan's jaws dropped in shock, dropping further at Kaisers following question. "Did you leave your hover chair back at the temple or did you just want another piggyback?"

Yoda hit Kaiser lightly on the head with his stick. "Insubordination, that was. Fun, this is. My transport, you are. Mush."

Kaiser chuckled and Mace shook his head with a hint of a smile on his face. The trio left the shocked and dumbfounded groups behind them. The only group that was used to this were the Shadow Hunters, excluding Shmi, and that was because he and Yoda did something similar almost every time they got together. Krix noticed that Shmi pulled Anakin off to the side to talk with him privately, probably telling him that if the Jedi Council refused to teach him, the Kaiser had promised that he would. Instead of talking with anyone, the Trandoshan pulled one of their specially modified Zephyr-G swoop bikes and headed towards one of the many bars on the planet-turned-city. He knew that Kaiser would contact him if he was needed. A few of the other members on the crew left to either go to a bar or check with a contact for information. The Queen, senator, Jedi, and Anakin left towards the senate building and houses to prepare for both the senate and the Jedi Council. No one noticed a survey droid fly off into the distance.

Yoda and Kaiser, as Mace had separated from them upon reaching the Jedi Temple, went to where Yoda was about to begin teaching a class of younglings. Before entering the room, Yoda climbed off of Kaiser and stopped him. "Wait here, you shall. Call you in at the proper time, I shall." Kaiser nodded and leaned on the wall by the door as Yoda entered. When he felt Yoda calling him in through what little of the Force that he could use, he entered the room. One of the younglings, a Rodian, raised a hand in the air. "Yes, Greeda?" Yoda asked her.

"Master, who is this person?" Greeda asked politely.

"An old friend of mine, he is. Much older than I, he is. Much experience, he has, in battle and the Force." The younglings looked at Kaiser in awe. "Strong and powerful, he is, yet weak and powerless." Yoda and Kaiser laughed while the younglings looked confused.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kaiser Drakon, and I'm the leader of the bounty hunter group known as the Shadow Hunters. To explain what my friend means my saying that I'm strong and powerful, but weak and powerless, I'm very strong and quite powerful all the time. However, to those that know me well, I can be as weak and powerless as a newborn child. Yoda also said that I'm older than he is, which, when you consider my race and Yoda's age, is quite surprising. Yoda is over 900 years old. While I am a human, much like a few of you, I am over 4000 years old." Jaws dropped around the room and Kaiser saw a few disbelieving faces. He removed his helmet, showing that he was, indeed, human. "I was briefly a Jedi of the Old Republic, and trained under several masters of the time, as well as a trained under a few Sith masters via their Holocrons." When he saw the signs of fear appear, he continued quickly. "While I can use both sides of the force, I can't fall to the dark, nor can I rise to the light. I am, or was, what you would call a grey Jedi. I was the first of at least two, the second being Revan.

"The reason I'm so old is because I was blessed by the Force. I didn't find out who or what it was until a while after and many of my friends died of old age and I attempted suicide, with obvious failure. I was on death's door from many saber and blaster wounds when a being of both light and dark appeared before me. I was delirious because of my pain, and thus couldn't understand what the being said or what I replied. After my first suicide attempt, that being appeared to me again. Both times it appeared, very few people, including Jedi and Sith alike, could use the Force. Those that could would find their Force abilities magnified when it returned back to normal levels. The second time the being appeared to me, it told me that I was immortal. Immortal in the way that, while I couldn't die of either old age or disease, I could still die from battle wounds. Those in my crew and group that form a soul-bond, in the case of my wife, a familiar-bond, in the case of my two Vornskrs, or a hunter's-bond, in the case of everyone else in my crew and group, will join me in that immortality. A hunter's-bond is only created when at least two individuals work together on such a level with enough trust that betrayal will never cross their minds.

"There are very few that actually gain a hunter's-bond, but those that do have unparalleled teamwork and efficiency. However, that's not the reason I'm here." A few of the younglings looked back and forth between Kaiser and Yoda. "While I originally came here to catch up with this young one here," he motioned to Yoda, getting a few laughs from the children, which grew in volume when Yoda faked pouting, "he convinced me to teach you a little bit." The children immediately sat still and gave him their full attention.

"Bring more guest speakers and teachers, I should, if this, it does," Yoda muttered. While the younglings didn't hear it, Kaiser did.

"Maybe its because of my age. You should grow up some," Kaiser quipped and Yoda pouted again while the children laughed. "Anyways, have you began to connect to the Force and learn it's ways?" Many nodded. "Good. Begin meditating now. Feel your surroundings. Hear the whispers of the wind. See what needs to be seen. Become one with the Force. Ignore your thoughts, feelings, body. When you feel the Force flow through you, don't grab it. Don't force it. Let it flow. Let it show you the way. The Force flows through you like a river down a mountain. It carves its own path, creating a better way while remaining smooth and calm. This is the light side of the Force. The side the Jedi use. The Sith originally used the warrior side of the force, or the dark side, but as time passed and they fell to greed, they began to use a perversion of it. When a Jedi falls to what the current council calls the 'dark side,' they actually fall to the Sith's perversion. I want you to connect with the true dark side now, but listen to my instructions before you try. Instead of letting the light side flow through you, ignore it. Continue to hear, feel, and see, but ignore the temptation. Ignore that which makes you, you, and push past the offers of strength, power, and recognition.

"Search for the true dark side and feel it empower your battle strength and emotions. Hear its battle cries as it guides you in battle. See your true enemies before they see you. This is the true dark side, the warrior's path. The light side is used for peace and clarity while the dark side is used for battle and conflicts. A grey Jedi uses both. A modern Jedi uses the light. No one uses the dark. The Sith use the perversion of the dark. A grey Jedi can defeat both the original Jedi and original Sith. The original Sith can defeat the modern Sith. Modern Jedi follow the new Jedi Code. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. I follow the Old Code. There is Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.

"With the new code, there is restriction and weakness. With the old code, there is more power and freedom. I was trained to use my emotions, and that gives me strength. There will always be ignorance, for without it, there can be no knowledge. Through passion, we gain more strength. We use our serenity to shape our passion into a form that can be used. There cannot be harmony without chaos as balance must be kept. Death is a part of life, and thus, the Force. Without it, balance would fail and the Force would be destroyed. Learn from past mistakes so as to not make them again. I myself am very weak in using the Force, but that does not hinder me. I can still go toe-to-toe with Yoda, although, that may be due to my training him at one point. Despite my weakness in the Force, I was the one to train Yoda in it. It was through me that he learned how to use it to great effect. I can understand and communicate with the Force, and as such, I can teach how to use it to others. I thank you for your time, but I must return to my ship. Enjoy the tea, Yoda." Kaiser donned his helmet and strolled out the door to the front of the temple.

Yoda turned his attention back to the children. "Learn much from him, you did. My teacher, he truly was. Learn much from, I did. Still learning, I am. Right, he is, about the code. Understand it, you must, for a decision, you shall make, in time. Now, return to the lesson, we shall." A few groans met his final statement, but the younglings paid attention to him all the same.

Kaiser sat on the steps in front of the temple, waiting for someone from his crew to pick him up. He didn't have to wait long, as Dar appeared with two Zephyr-G swoop bikes, one of which was temporarily slaved to the controls of Dar's. After turning off the slaved controls, Kaiser mounted the bike and the two returned to their ship. As they were storing the bikes away, Kaiser raised an important question. "We've had this ship for a long time." Dar nodded, wondering what Kaiser was getting at. "Don't you think it's about time we come up with a name for it?" Dar stopped walking as Kaiser continued on, deep in thought.

Dar tilted his head to the side before heading to the main room. _'We really do need to think of a name for it. Though, why we took so long to decide to do so after Kaiser's wife named her ship the Ebon Hawk is a mystery to me.'_

 **===Chapter End===**

AN: I want all my readers to remember: I do take your ideas into account. In fact, your ideas are not only taken into account, but they help give me inspiration and new ideas on how to continue the story. Don't be afraid to send me your ideas, because they help me greatly. This story may at some point turn into a crossover with something, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see how it goes for now. For my other stories, I don't think that I will be updating them anytime soon. I currently don't have the inspiration or ideas to continue. However, I have been working on chapter two of Havoc Dragons, but have run out of steam. It is progressing, but slowly. As I said previously, your ideas help greatly. I am thankful for the reviews and comments I got on my previous stories, not to mention all the people that favorited and followed both me and my stories. At one point, I was getting at least five of each per day. I thank you all for your support.


	2. Chapter 2

**Shadow Hunters**

AN: I wasn't expecting to have the second chapter out this quick, but here it is. I have several references and hints in this chapter and will have similar things in future chapters. Try to spot them if you want.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any part of this.

 **===Begin Chapter===**

Far from Coruscant and deep in the Outer Rim, a giant ship roughly eight hundred meters long slowly made its way towards the core planets. The ship, a Harrower-class dreadnought salvaged from the remains of the Sith Empire during the Old Republic, was a hulking red and black menace. After it had been repaired, it had been repainted black with blood red markings. The old lights had been replaced with new white xenon lights. The armament had not been changed, just upgraded for more accuracy and firepower. The engines had been boosted for more speed and power. The 95 starfighters and 35 transports onboard had been replaced with 130 Kom'rk-class fighter/transports. The only original ships remaining were the 32 B28 Extinction-class bombers. The crew of the Harrower-class dreadnought, named Inferno, were not biological beings. Instead, it was crewed and maintained by 2,400 HK-50 assassin droids that had been modified to work in different parts of the ship. In addition, there were 2,000 specifically modified for open combat, 162 modified for piloting the fighters and bombers, and the only HK-47 droid ever made.

It was the HK-47 droid that was the major general of the dreadnought. The general was currently en-route to the ship in her modified dynamic-class freighter named Ebon Hawk. She had commanded that the ship drop out of hyperspace for the time being while she went to acquire something. As soon as she was back on board, they would return to hyperspace. HK-47's metal feet clanked on the floor as he walked to the bridge. He had just checked in personally with the lieutenant general, who was training at the ship's training grounds, and was going to oversee the current pilots and navigators on the bridge.

The training ground that the lieutenant general was training at was located on the starboard side of the ships dual pronged bow. He'd been in an accident about 3,500 years earlier, and had to undergo immediate surgery to stay alive. Even that surgery wasn't enough to save him, but they had managed to transfer the necessary organs for life, including his brain, to a metal frame. This frame allowed quite a bit of flexibility and acrobatics that could be utilized in battle. However, his new body didn't allow him to eat, so they developed a formula that would provide him with nutrients while not needing to actively eat. Another byproduct is that he doesn't need to sleep as much, if at all. He now had four fingers and two thumbs, but that is because each arm could split into two arms. The area protecting his organs had no opening and was a solid inch thick case durasteel. The only way to open it was by using the Force in the right spot or having the correct tool. Instead of having a mask designed to represent his race, he instead had his mask designed like a silver skull. It contrasted with his body, which was made of black durasteel, but gave him the ability to easily scare many by coming out of the shadows, especially with his eyes that glowed red. While he retained his brain, a computer-chip was inserted into it, allowing him quicker reflexes and more access to electronics without a device. His name was Scath Sku'lesh.

Scath was coming to a close on the day's training. He put the training sabers in their racks and exited the room, metal feet clanking all the way. As he passed, several droids that were guarding doors saluted him. He acknowledged them with a nod and continued on his way. It had been thirty minutes since HK-47 had checked in with him, and he was heading to the bridge to make sure that the bloodthirsty assassin droid hadn't ordered the complete annihilation of a nearby planet. As he was passing one of the hangers, he glanced in and saw a familiar ship landing. He continued on for three steps before rapidly backtracking to make sure that he had seen correctly. "Yup," he muttered. "Revan's back. Better hurry to the bridge." He quickened his pace.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked a female voice that had been filtered through a helmet. "Aren't you supposed to be at the bridge?" Scath began to sweat nervously. He was supposed to be at the bridge until Revan had returned. He was not supposed to be training or wandering the halls.

"Eh...It's nice to see you're back safe, Revan."

"Don't try to distract me. I gave you specific instructions and you can't even follow them. Maybe I should tell my husband," Revan threatened. "Maybe he can teach you to follow orders and some responsibility."

Scath fell to his knees, tears pouring out of the eyeholes in his metal mask. "Please, please don't tell him. I'll do anything. Anything I tell you."

Revan raised a hand to her chin. "I don't know. I could use a sparing partner." Scath's silver mask somehow gained a whiter quality. "Maybe I'll use you as target practice." Scath's mask grew whiter. "I know! I'll make you..." She trailed off and Scath leaned forward, ready to receive the sentence for his punishment. "...work in the kitchen for a week." Scath leapt to his feet and bowed to Revan.

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" His mask, which had returned to its normal silver sheen, grew a red tinge of embarrassment. "Sorry about that." He looked up to see Revan walking towards the bridge. "H-hey! Wait up!" He ran to catch up to Revan.

Revan pressed a button on her com-link. "HK, put us into hyperspace. I want to be at the rendezvous before my husband."

" _Affirmed statement: Understood, master. Despairing query: Why couldn't I come with you and kill some meat-bags?"_ HK-47 asked.

Revan smirked inside her helmet. "Because I needed to pick something up for my husband and there was nothing to kill anyways."

" _Dejected statement: That's too bad. Exclamatory statement: At least my other master has promised me some meat-bags to shoot at. Downcast continuation: Although he wants them alive. Resigned statement: I guess I can console myself by destroying their inferior battle droids."_

Revan seemed amused by HK-47's responses. Scath was a little concerned, but not much. Revan turned her head to Scath. "Before you go serve your punishment in the kitchens, make sure the twins are ready for battle, just in case they're needed." Scath shivered, making the terrible sound of metal scraping on metal, but nodded and went off to find the two. Revan continued to the bridge, where she relieved HK-47 of duty and sent him to maintain his many weapons, to which he gleefuly thanked her and somehow managed to skip down the hall while singing what he probably thought was a happy song. The few organic beings on the ship that saw HK during this immediately went and hid under their beds and prayed that he wasn't coming after them.

Scath, meanwhile, had located the twins. They were, as stated, twins. They were similar in every aspect except their clothes. Both were tall, had short hair, piercing blue eyes, and a muscular build. The older of the two wore a black shirt, black pants, black boots, and had a lightsaber hanging off his right hip. The younger wore the same, but in white with his lightsaber also on his right hip. However, he had been in an accident once while in battle and lost his left arm and part of his face. He now had a cybernetic arm and they had taken and fused part of a helmet they had found to the left side of his face. They worked extremely well together, each covering the other's weak spots. Very few could achieve the teamwork that these two had, and that was partially because these two could communicate with each other through their twin-bond. In other words, they didn't need to speak to each other. Using this, they also developed the habit of finishing each other's sentences.

 **===On Coruscant===**

Kaiser was sitting at a foldable table with Krix, Dar, and Diana, a female Twi'lek that was one heck of a sniper. They were playing Sabacc, and Kaiser had racked up a losing streak while Diana, who seemed to have an insane amount of luck, had almost cleaned everyone out. Dar had dropped out so he could keep some of his money, leaving only three. Kaiser looked up from the cards in his hand and saw Qui-gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin, the Queen, and the Queen's entourage disembarking a senate bus. He pushed all his money and an extra pistol to the center of the table. "Let's go all in." Diana looked at her cards, grinned, and agreed by pushing her pile of credits and various other forms of currency to the center. Krix sighed and pushed his small stack of currency in as well before showing his cards. Diana's grin grew bigger as she slapped her cards on the table and stood to pull the pile to her. Kaiser looked at her cards. "You might have a Pure Sabacc, but I win." He laid his three cards down one-by-one, showing a 2, 3, and an Idiot. Diana's jaw dropped. Kaiser grinned. "See, I have an Idiot's Array. I'll be taking back my money and my pistol." He quickly pocketed the money and holstered the pistol. "Krix, get the table. Since they're coming, I believe we will be leaving here pretty quick."

Krix sighed and stood. "Alright. You'll give me a portion of your winnings, right?"

"HA! You're funny." Krix groaned, folded the table up, and trudged back to the ship. "If you get that table put away in the next, say, thirty seconds, I'll give you all that you lost plus half of that." Krix couldn't move fast enough, leaving a cloud of smoke in his likeness and making Diana laugh before she followed him on board. Kaiser approached the group of royalty plus two Jedi. "I'd assume that since you're here, I'll be receiving payment soon and we will go to free Naboo?" 

"You are correct. Padme has a case of 1,000 credits for escorting us here in addition to an advanced fee of 5,000 to escort us to Naboo. You will receive 20,000 more upon the freeing of Naboo," stated the Queen, who Kaiser knew was a body double, although he was the only one to notice.

Kaiser took the case and checked it. "Pleasure doing business with you. Before we go to Naboo, we need to make a slight detour. I have someone I need to meet up with. They will help us fight for Naboo and will be able to ensure that we get to the surface unharmed while they fight the space battle. Is this alright with you?" The Queen nodded her ascent and Kaiser began to walk back to his ship when the Queen spoke again.

"I'd like you to take my hand maiden Padme with you on your ship." Kaiser paused mid-step before continuing.

"That's fine with me. Anakin, come on. You Jedi are welcome as well." Anakin ran to fall into step beside Kaiser and Padme followed at the same pace. Qui-gon and Obi-Wan looked at each other before shrugging and following Kaiser as well. The Queen and her entourage boarded her ship and both ships took off. As they exited the atmosphere, Kaiser opened a com-channel with the Nubian Royal Starship. "We're sending you some coordinates. That is where we are meeting the my...contact. Rest assured, we will be safe."

" _We copy. We will meet you there. J-type 327 out._ "

Kaiser moved to the cockpit from the communication room. "Engage hyperspace. I'm ready to see my wife." Tyr and Diablo, the two human pilots, nodded. The stars turned into streaks as they shot into hyperspace towards Ithor, a planet near Naboo.

The two ships made it to the coordinates without any interference. The J-type 327 made the trip in relative silence while the Dynamic-class freighter was quite noisy. Those of the Shadow Hunters on board enjoyed several different games while Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and Diana regaled Anakin with stories of their past and battles they had been through. It was when they exited hyperspace that something happened. The J-type 327, as it had left first, arrived before the freighter. Upon seeing a giant triangular cruiser that split into two points about halfway down the ship and was loaded with weapons, the pilots began preparations to use evasive maneuvers. It was at this point that the Shadow Hunter's freighter dropped out of hyperspace and flew directly towards the top hanger that was in between the ship's two points. The Nubian's pilots looked at each other before shrugging and following the freighter.

Landing in the hanger, the two ships were greeted by four people and a droid. One wore a black Sith-like robe and old Mandalorian helmet. Another wore a black cloak, within which black metal could be seen, and had a silver skull-like helmet and crimson eyes. The last two, aside from the droid, were exactly same, down to the style of clothes, but one had black and the other had white, not to mention the one in white had a cybernetic arm and part of a helmet on his face. The droid was an HK series assassin droid.

The ramps of both ships lowered and while Panaka and the other guards in the Queen's entourage exited with pistols drawn and cautiously, those on the freighter simply strolled off as if they were at home.

Kaiser walked up to the five figures and stopped in front of the one with a Mandalorian helmet. He held his arms apart and grinned inside his own Mandalorian helmet. "Revan! I'd kiss you but we're both wearing our helmets. However, I'll settle for a hug-OOMPH!" He was cut off by Revan jumping into his arms and giving him something akin to a bearhug before yanking his helmet off and tossing it to the side and doing the same with her own, showing her face and chocolate colored eyes, and kissing Kaiser while wrapping her legs around his waist. When Revan finally decided to break the kiss and stand on her own feet four minutes later, she had a red tinge on her cheeks while Kaiser had a giant shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "Now THAT's what I call affection." He turned to the two Jedi. "Your order should learn about it. It can be quite helpful as incentive and a reward." He took his helmet from Revan when she offered it to him, having used the Force to recall both hers and his. Both put their helmets on their heads and Revan pulled her cloak's cowl up and over hers.

During the four minutes that Kaiser and Revan were showing each other their love, the crew that had gone with Kaiser had gotten off the ship and unloaded several crates of supplies that they had picked up. Krix and Dar had introduced Anakin to Scath, the twins, and HK-47. Diana had gone over to Scath and hugged him before dragging him off to the side and began to speak quietly with him. Tyr and Diablo were making sure that the freighter was full on fuel, ammo, and supplies, as well as making some repairs and adjustments. The rest of the crew had ambled off to do their own thing, while staying nearby. They knew that they would leave to help get the Queen to her palace and retake Naboo soon.

"HK, Scath, go direct the ship to Naboo. Arcann, Thexan, make sure your prepared for battle and move what you need to the freighter," Kaiser said before turning to Revan. "We really need to give my freighter a name. I mean, you named yours the Ebon Hawk." Unseen, Revan's eyes danced with amusement. "Ghost, Phantom, Nova? I'm open to options here."

Revan finally let out a laugh, at which Kaiser grinned. "How about...Firestorm Dragon?"

Kaiser thought about it and nodded. "That sounds great." He turned to his crew. "Did you all hear that? Our freighter is now named Firestorm Dragon!" The crew cheered briefly before returning to their work. Kaiser and Revan turned to the Naboo natives and the two Jedi. "You're welcome to explore the ship or stay here. I believe that Krix and Dar would be glad to show you and Anakin around and make sure you don't get lost. That way, when we arrive at Naboo, you can quickly reach your ship." They nodded and Krix and Dar led the group off. Kaiser turned to Revan. "Now then, how about I show you my love for you in a more...private location." Revan grabbed his arm and shot off to their room. Kaiser laughed as he was dragged along.

 **===With Anakin===**

Anakin was in awe of the dreadnought. Krix had informed them that it was named Inferno and had been salvaged and repaired from the remains of a battle that had happened thousands of years before. Krix and Dar showed the group the other hangers, the training grounds, the bridge, and where the living beings on the ship stayed. As Anakin and Shmi were now a part of the crew, as the Jedi Council was debating over whether or not to train Anakin, they received their own rooms. They made their way to one of the more used training grounds to watch several of the droids sparing to make sure they were ready for battle. Qui-gon led Ob-Wan off to one of the sparring rings and began to spar with him. Anakin watched them with rapt attention.

An hour and a half later, Kaiser and Revan appeared in the doorway of the training ground. Since they wore Mandalorian armor, their appearance didn't look much different than before the disappeared. However, since they were holding their helmets under their arms, their hair could be seen and both hadn't taken the time to fix their hair after their...activities. Not to mention, Revan seemed to be glowing and Kaiser had a giant grin on his face. Of the group that had taken a tour of the ship, only a few noticed these differences. Those that noticed were Qui-gon, Panaka, and Padme. Qui-gon and Panaka because they had experience noticing similar things and Padme because part of her training to be queen included noticing small details.

Kaiser's com-link beeped and he put his helmet on to answer. "Go ahead."

" _We are about to exit hyperspace to warm up the weapons and begin the final approach. I recommend getting to your ships and prepare to get to the surface,"_ Scath said.

"Understood. We'll be ready." Kaiser turned to the group, who was watching him, and spoke. "We should get to our ships and prepare for take off. We're almost to Naboo." The group nodded and they hurried to the hanger their ships were in. As they entered, they heard an announcement.

" _All fighters get to your ships and prepare for battle. All fighters get to your ships and prepare for battle. Fighter Squads Red, Green, Gold, Delta, and Omega will directly attack the command ship. Fighter Squad Alpha and Ebon Hawk will escort Firestorm Dragon and a Nubian J-type 327 Royal Starship to the surface before engaging the command ship. This is not a drill."_

Several HK-50 droids ran out of various doors and got in the various Kom'rk-class fighters scattered around the hanger. Revan and HK-47 boarded the Ebon Hawk. Kaiser and his crew entered the Firestorm Dragon. The Queen, her entourage, and the Jedi entered the J-type 327. All the ships went through start up procedures and the ones with weaponry began to warm them up. As they approached the planet, all the fighter squads, Ebon Hawk, Firestorm Dragon, and the J-type 327 took off. When Alpha squad and the three other ships made it into relatively empty space, the squad formed a defensive perimeter around the three ships as they flew to the planet, picking off whatever droids tried to stop them. They entered Naboo's atmosphere and swooped low over the trees. They landed in a clearing and the starfighters and the Ebon Hawk returned to fight in space, some pulling potshots on the droids that strayed just within range.

Kaiser walked out into the main room and tossed several packs of EMP grenades to his crew, which were caught and attached to a belt. Krix and Dar both exited the ship to clear the area with their Z6-Rotary blaster cannons. Diana followed close behind with a Chiss sniper slung across her back and two pistols in hand. The twins walked off with no weapon in hand, but Kaiser knew they had their lightsabers with them. Kaiser followed them off with a Chiss sniper on his back, his dual Westar-34s holstered at his hip, and a heavily modified Z6-Rotary blaster cannon in hand.

Those on the Queen's ship disembarked as well, but with less caution. Everyone gathered together in between the two ships. "Well, Your Highness, this is your planet. Lead the way," said Kaiser."

"I believe that, since we are so few and the droids are so many, we should request the Gungans for help," the Queen replied. Kaiser nodded and the Queen turned to Jarjar. "Would your people be willing to help?"

Jarjar scratched the back of his head. "Mesa bein thinken theysa mighta not, but, it no hurts mesa to check." He led the way to the nearby lake and jumped in. Kaiser proceeded to sit on a nearby log while Krix and Dar kept an eye on their surroundings. Twenty minutes later, Jarjar returned. "Desa not being der."

Qui-gon spoke up. "Could they have been wiped out?"

Jarjar shook his head. "Mesa no think so. When wesa Gungans have dangerous situation, wesa goin to sacred place. Come, come. Mesa show you." He jogged off into the trees. Everyone followed. Eventually they were stopped and surrounded by Gungan soldiers.

"Stop. What is your business here?" one of the soldiers asked.

"We came to seek an audience with your king," spoke the Queen.

The soldiers looked at each other briefly and motioned the group forward. "You may keep your weapons, but no funny business."

They were brought before Boss Nass. "What are you doing here?"

The Queen was about to speak when Padme stepped forward. "I think I should handle this."

"And who are you?"

"I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo." Several members of the Shadow Hunters, Anakin, and the two Jedi looked surprised. "I come before you to ask of you," she paused and dropped to her knees, "no, I beg of you, please lend us your aid against the droids." Her entourage and the Jedi bowed. Anakin looked at Kaiser, silently asking if he should bow, to which Kaiser shook his head.

Boss Nass saw that the Shadow Hunters didn't bow. "And what about you? Why do you not bow like her?"

"She's paying us to help her retake the planet. I'm not actually a part of her group," said Kaiser. "However, your help would be beneficial. If you agree to lend your aid, I'll show you some plans me and my crew came up with for the coming battles. I might even throw in some new weapons and armor for you."

Boss Nass tilted his head slightly, thinking, before turning his head back to the Queen. "You don't think your better than the Naboos? Mesa thinking, wesa bein friends." He shook his head from side to side making an odd noise, getting cheers from all around.

Kaiser tossed out a portable holo projector. It hit the ground and slid to a stop before activating and showing a map of Theed Palace and the area surrounding the city. Kaiser pointed to an area that had little cover on all but one side. "If your army was placed here with your own shield generators, you would be able to draw the droids' fire. Any long range specialists that you have could seek shelter in the trees and pick off the droids that were still out of the shield. They may even be able to take out tanks if the Trade Federation pulls them out. This will allow us to infiltrate the city and Palace. Once inside, we'll make our way to the throne room, where the Federation leaders are sure to be." Kaiser stepped back and folded his arms. His cannon sat on the ground beside him. Boss Nass and Padme looked over the map and the outlined plan a little longer before nodding their ascent. Kaiser unfolded his arms and clapped his hands. "Now then, who's ready to take out some clankers?" The soldiers that heard him cheered.

Seven hours later, Kaiser, Krix, Dar, the twins, the Queen, her entourage, and the two Jedi had made it to the city. They now had to wait for the signal. In an open field, the Gungan army stood at arms and droid tanks and transports hovered over to the top of the opposite hill. The Gungans activated their shield generators, just before the tanks started shooting at them. The first shots hit the shield, but it held strong. The Gungan soldiers shuffled in slight anticipation.

A droid climbed out of the lead tank, saw that their attempts to destroy the Gungans with the tanks had failed, and raised his right hand. "Cease Fire." The tanks stopped shooting. "Deploy the troops." The transports hovered forward and the front hatch opened. A tall rack of deactivated battle droids slid out of the front hatch of each transport. The bottom row slid out and activated and stepped forward. The second row did the same. This continued until all the droids were deployed. The newly activated army of droids turned as one to face the shielded Gungans.

The Gungans began to load their ranged weapons and activated their personal shields and one shot a red flare into the air. The droids began to march towards the shield, pulling their blaster pistols from their backs. The first droids to the shield hesitated until one slowly pushed through and started shooting. The rest followed suit. The initial four seconds threw the Gungans into chaos. Many were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and were cut down by the advancing droid lines. Thirty seconds from the first shot, the Gungans were able to reorganize and attack back. Jarjar, who had been promoted to General, was running around in his normal battle panic, destroying droids by accident. His feet got tangled in the wires of one and he fell to the ground and began to flop around. This had the effect of slinging a droid's upper body around and inadvertently shot other droids. After a few seconds of this, Jarjar realized that he would be able to use this to cause even more damage to the droids and began to flop around with more precision and began to take down more droids.

Eventually, Jarjar's foot was untangled from the wires and he continued his wild panicking. The other Gungans were doing better than he was. They had more training and experience. Then again, Jarjar had always been a different Gungan. One droid had returned to the transports briefly and was currently running back to the battle with what looked like a grenade launcher. Before he could get halfway to the shield, a sniper shot range out and the droid was suddenly missing his head. His body continued to run for three steps before collapsing with the launcher beside him. One of the nearby droids picked up the launcher and continued the run, but was shot before he could get four feet. This continued until the droid carrying the launcher was inside the shield.

It took aim at the foremost generator and fired several grenades, destroying the generator and the creature carrying it in a violent explosion of shrapnel, fire, blood, and guts. When the shield had been lowered, the Gungans began to retreat, somewhat covered by consecutive sniper shots steadily taking out droids left and right and, in some cases, in groups of 2 to 4 with one shot. The droid in the lead tank commanded a charge and the tanks zoomed forward to engage the Gungans while opening fire. The droid, however, wasn't fast enough to duck back into the tank and lost his head.

Back at the castle, the group saw the flare and began their infiltration. Kaiser and Krix lead the way with Panaka giving directions and Dar brought up the rear. At every corner, they slowed to a halt and Kaiser peaked around to see the droids. Every time, he and Krix were able to quickly clear the hallway. They quickly made it to their first destination: the hanger. Kaiser, Krix, and Dar used their cannons to cut down the groups of droids while the Queen's guards used their pistols to precisely take down the droids guarding the pilots, who ran to their fighters and took off to join the space battle. When all the droids were destroyed and the pilots gone, the group approached a door, which opened to reveal the Sith that Kaiser and Qui-gon had fought on Tatooine.

Qui-gon turned to the Queen. "You go. We'll handle this."

The Queen nodded and motioned for everyone else to follow. Kaiser turned to the twins. "Go with the Jedi, but only interfere if one of them is about to die." Thexan and Arcann nodded.

Kaiser returned to the group and continued to help them clear the hallways to the throne room. They finally came to a set of stairs that was guarded by 15 droidekas. The group scattered and took shelter behind various pillars. Kaiser, Krix, and Dar would randomly pop out of cover and send a spray of blaster bolts down the hall. Padme decided to take things into her own hands and shot at one of the windows, but since the window was built to protect against this kind of thing, the shot was ineffective. Kaiser understood what she wanted to do, and instead of popping out and sending another spray down the hallway, he ran across the hall to Padme, took aim at the window she had shot at, and let loose the rest of the specialized gas clip that enabled the gun to shoot plasma bolts. Right as the last shot hit it, the window shattered. Kaiser ejected the spent clip and swapped it with a full one. He knew that since the clips were self-reloading, the first lip would be at least half full by the time he emptied the second.

Padme and those in her part of the group escaped the hallway through the window and attached grappling hooks to their guns. Kaiser noticed and spoke up. "We don't have hooks, so we'll see you later. Good luck." Padme nodded, shot her hook to the floor above, and began to ascend. The others follow suit and Kaiser turned to Krix and Dar. "Retreat from this hallway and go solo to hunt the rest of the droids in the palace. When you've taken them out, move to the city itself. Keep your coms open. I'm going to see if the Gungans need any help after checking in at the camp." Krix and Dar nodded before breaking from cover and disappearing into various hallways. Kaiser dropped to a knee and flipped a switch on his boots, unlocking the jet function. He stood and jumped out the window, igniting the boots when he approached the ground and slowing to a hover before turning them off and dropping the last foot. He quickly looked around and saw that he'd landed in an empty courtyard. He quickly ran off into an alley and disappeared into the maze of backstreets and alleys. He never saw the eyes watching from the top of the palace.

Utilizing his natural hiding abilities in addition to his quiet armor, Kaiser was able to surprise and destroy groups of droids while occasionally picking off a lone droid with his pistols or sniper. He made it out of the city where they first entered and was about to mount his Zehpyr-G swoop bike when a pistol shot hit the ground near him. He dove away from the bike and slid behind a stack of crates. After maneuvering himself into a sitting position, he poked his out from cover and saw a Mandalorian in blue and silver armor standing in the open with a Westar-34 pistol drawn and at his side. Kaiser stood and when the Mandalorian made no move to raise his weapon, walked over to his bike. The Mandalorian tensed, ready to shoot at him, but didn't move. Kaiser set his cannon into the slot he had installed for it on the bike and did the same with his sniper. He took his JT-12 jetpack off a slot on the bike and attached it to his armor. When he was done, he noticed the the Mandalorian had moved. There were now four spheres almost and equal distance from each other and were projecting something that Kaiser hadn't seen in a long time. A Mandalorian Challenge Circle. The MCC had been used during the Old Republic by the Mandalorians to challenge those of a higher rank. Back then, they were built in specific areas or drawn on the ground. A hologram projection was new.

The rules of an MCC were simple. You automatically lose if you are forced out of the circle, use a projectile weapon, submit, or die. There were several circles used for an MCC, and all had a diameter of 24 feet. The difference was in the outer symbols. The most used had symbols that stated that all rules are active. The next one was the one that was now set up. Its symbols basically said that all rules were active, but death was prohibited. The others weren't used much and really just used one of the rules.

The Mandalorian was standing in one of the two combatant boxes. Once the battle started, the combatants could leave the boxes to engage in close quarters. Kaiser took off the holsters that held his Westar-34s and set them on the seat of his bike. The Mandalorian had already taken off the holsters that held his pistols and set them on the ground on his side of the circle. Kaiser entered the other box and the hologram projected a countdown in the air between the two. When the counter reached zero, the two fighters shot towards each other, using their jetpacks to move faster. They reached the middle at the same time and the Mandalorian swung, but Kaiser was faster. He deflected the punch easily and slammed a palm into his opponent's chest plate and used a small force push to enhance the hit, pushing the Mandalorian away. Without waiting, Kaiser jumped at the Mandalorian and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks which knocked off a few pieces of armor and dented others with the strength behind each blow. The Mandalorian was eventually able to find a small break in the attack and capitalized on it, managing to force Kaiser to back off.

Kaiser was thrown on the defensive. The Mandalorian, while not as fast as Kaiser, had a little more strength and was able to throw his powerful punches just fast enough that Kaiser wasn't able to do more than block. Kaiser began to lose pieces of his armor and received multiple dents in his chest plate from the punches he didn't block. When he saw an opening, Kaiser drew a knife from a slot in his armor and made a slice at the Mandalorian's neck, forcing him to jump back or get cut. Kaiser quickly assessed his armor before unstrapping the pieces that were now useless and tossing them out of the circle. All he had left were his helmet, chest plate, boots, shin and knee guards, gloves, arm braces, and part of his upper right leg armor, which held a special knife. His opponent had done the same, but only tossed away his upper arm guards and had drawn a knife.

They both reassessed each other and dropped into a knife fighting stance. They began to circle around before lunging at the same time. Kaiser twisted around the Mandalorian's jab and made a swipe with his knife, which the Mandalorian rolled out of the way to dodge. They reengaged and locked blades, turning the fight into a battle of strength. The Mandalorian, being the stronger of the two, won and flicked Kaiser's blade out of the ring. Kaiser leapt away from the swipe that came immediately after and dropped his right hand to the armor on his upper right leg. He popped open a hidden slot and drew out a cylinder with a rubber grip and three blades coming out of the side. He gripped it where the blades would protrude between his fingers and made a swipe at the Mandalorian, who blocked with his knife.

To the Mandalorian's surprise, his knife was cut into four pieces. He dropped the now useless handle and dodged a coming strike. Kaiser charged the Mandalorian, who grabbed Kaiser's right wrist to force the blade away. Kaiser swung his left fist, which was caught as well, turning the fight into a battle of strength once again. Instead of trying to overpower the Mandalorian, Kaiser released all the tension in his left arm, throwing the Mandalorian off balance. In that moment, Kaiser was able to break the Mandalorian's grip on his wrist and slipped behind him, pulling the Mandalorian into a choke hold with the three blades coming close to his throat.

Before they could get close enough to draw blood, the Mandalorian spoke. "I submit." Kaiser released the hold and collected his broken armer to put in one of the bags on his bike. He retrieved his knife as well and sheathed it along with with the tri-bladed cylinder. The Mandalorian only collected his holsters, leaving his armor shards and pieces where they were. "I'd like to make a request."

Kaiser mounted his bike and started it up. "What is your request?"

"I'd like to join you."

Kaiser looked at the Mandalorian. "This should have an interesting explanation."

The Mandalorian took off his helmet. "The entire challenge was to see if you, someone that wore Mandalorian armor, was a Mandalorian or deserved to wear the armor. Since you beat me, I'd like your help in gaining strength. To do that, I would need to join you. I also need something else." Kaiser raised an eyebrow and motioned for the Mandalorian to continue. "I was contracted to be the templet for an army of clones that will be made for the Republic. In return, I requested a single, unaltered clone that I could raise as my own son and heir. Since I'm a bounty hunter, and one of the best, I will be taking high risk missions. I want someone I can trust to look after my son while I'm gone. If I join you, I'd like you to look after and train my son when I'm not around."

Kaiser thought a moment. "I will agree to both. You can join us and we will take care of your son when needed. However, since you are joining us, you will have to pull your own weight, either by giving us a portion of the money you earn or acquiring new and better hardware for us. If you join us for good, you will receive many benefits, including protection when needed, as well as a family. You see, those in the Shadow Hunters aren't just friends. We're all family."

"Family. Something I will be happy to have again. My name is Jango Fett."

"Nice to meet you, Jango. I'm Kaiser Drakon, leader of the Shadow Hunters."

"So I'm joining the most famous bounty hunter group?"

Kaiser chuckled. "The Shadow Hunters aren't just a group. It's an organization."

 **===End Chapter===**

AN: There are several things in this chapter that if you didn't see coming, you might be stupid. Although, you might just not be very observant. However, that is just my opinion, so feel free to ignore it. Anyways, Kaiser's cylinder with three blades is based off of Wolverine's claws. I will say what I said last chapter: reader input is helpful. I received some input, and that helped me develop this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Shadow Hunters**

AN: Okay, so I was able to write up another chapter. To those that have read this from when I first posted two weeks ago, this story is now turning into a crossover. The crossover will start at the end of this chapter. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

 **===Begin Chapter===**

Thexan and Arcann stood off to the side and watched Qui-gon and Obi-Wan engage the Sith. The followed the fighters as they fought their way through the halls of the palace. It wasn't just their lightsabers that were used, but the Force was used to throw objects at the opponent. After the fight led into a room where the ray shield doors activated, Obi-Wan was headbutted by the Sith and tossed away. He hit a wall and slid to the ground, dazed. Qui-gon continued to engage the Sith before he was tossed away as well. When the Sith rushed at the two dazed Jedi, Thexan and Arcann intervened. Arcann used the force to launch the Sith across the room and the duo charged, igniting their yellow lightsabers as they went.

Arcann got there first and dropped into a Djem So stance and began to push the Sith back with his relentless and strong attacks. When Thexan arrived, the Sith had to fight even harder against the very aggressive Juyo style. Arcann and Thexan would alternate strikes, never leaving an opening. The Sith began to sweat and became cornered against a wall. At the same time Arcann and Thexan locked their sabers with the Sith's dual saber, forcing him to his knees with their combined strength. In desperation, the Sith reached out to the Force and used an ability he had never known of: the Force Repulse. The Force Repulse is the most advanced form of the Force Push. It would launch everything away from the user in all directions. In this case, Arcann and Thexan were sent flying across the room. The Sith fell to his hands after using the power.

However, he wasn't given much of a rest as Qui-gon and Obi-Wan were upon him once more. He was able to put up a good fight until his exhaustion from using the Force Repulse caught up with him. He missed a block and was cut in half at the waist by Obi-Wan. Shock showed on the Sith's face as his upper body fell to the ground and the light left his eyes. Arcann and Thexan walked up to the two Jedi and Thexan used the Force to drop the Sith's body into the pit in the middle of the room.

Arcann nodded to Thexan, who began to walk away. "We should leave and see if we are needed elsewhere." The two Jedi nodded their agreement and the trio followed Thexan out of the room.

 **===With Revan===**

After she and Alpha Squadron had returned to the space battle, HK-47 went to man the dorsal turrets while an astromech, 5N-1P-3R, or Sniper, maned the ventral turrets via a wall terminal in the cab. Sniper was custom made and maintained by Revan, and had many hidden compartments, tools, and even a few weapons. Revan used her ace piloting skills in addition to her centuries in training with the Force to maneuver through the battle field, avoiding laser fire and other pilots alike. After three minutes of shooting at random droids, she ended up with five trying to shoot her from behind. They were flying in that the dorsal and ventral turrets just couldn't reach.

"Sniper, engage your magnetic treads. We're going to go spinning." Revan began to spin the ship and the first three droids did the same. The last to where taken out by HK and Sniper when the Ebon Hawk had rotated enough that they were in the turret's sights. After seeing that spinning wasn't going to lose the last three, Revan decided to try dive-bombing the droid control ship. She stopped the spin and turned the ship into a steep dive. One droid pulled up early so as to survive, but the other two stayed on Revan's tail. When Revan pulled up the last second, the two crashed into a relay tower, sending it up in a fiery explosion. Revan redirected the Ebon Hawk to a group of droids that were targeting two of her pilots. Before she could get there to save them, help arrived in the form of the Naboo pilots, who made quick work of the droids. However, the droids kept coming out of the control ship in waves.

One unfortunate HK-50 pilot had been forced to fly into an open hanger. Instead of stopping, it continued to fly till it ran out of hanger before slowing to a stop and landing. Looking around, it saw that several of the Trade Federation's battle droids had surrounded its ship and were walking closer. Continuing to observe its surroundings, it also saw a reactor in the hanger. It wasn't strategically placed, so the droid decided to fire a proton missile at it and fly out of the hanger. The HK series droid restarted his fighter, lifted off, fired a missile at the reactor, and immediately shot off down the hanger.

It took a moment for the droids that had been approaching the fighter to realize what had happened, but when they did, they all threw their blasters in the air, held their hands above their heads, and began to run away while screaming. The HK-50 had manage to somehow get a recording that it was going to give to HK-47. There is something that most of the biological beings on the Inferno don't know. There is a movie theatre located in the droids' part of the ship and the HK droids use it to watch whatever fights or battles they manage to record. HK-47 was the droid that the recordings had to be cleared with before they were shown. The HK droid knew that HK-47 would find the clip entertaining and would allow it to be shown in the theatre.

From the outside of the droid control ship, it looked like an explosion started at on end of the crescent shaped outer ring and quickly moved around the ring, engulfing the sphere in the center when it reached the bridge that connected the crescent to the sphere.

Back with the droid, the explosion had moved faster than it had anticipated. It could just see the hanger exit when the explosion surrounded and passed it. With nothing else to do, the assassin droid continued to fly forward and increased the fighter's speed. Its fighter shot out from the hanger and explosion just before the main part and was able to avoid destruction. As soon as it cleared the hanger, the fighter's coms had erupted into cheers of the human pilots from Naboo. The droid joined all the other HK pilots in the short journey back to the Inferno. The Ebon Hawk flew past them and into the upper hanger at the front of the Harrower-class dreadnought.

 **===With Kaiser and Jango===**

Kaiser chuckled. "The Shadow Hunters aren't just a group. It's an organization. You can either take your ship, if you have one, and help our forces in the space battle, or you can get on my swoop bike and come with me to help some of our ground forces." Jango looked at the sky and saw an explosion on what looked like a small moon with a crescent around it, put his helmet on, and climbed on the swoop bike behind Kaiser. "Well, hold on." Kaiser pressed the bike's accelerator and it shot forward, quickly going to full speed. Jango, who had quickly grabbed ahold of Kaiser, was almost jarred off by the sudden acceleration. Only his quick readjustment on how he held on to Kaiser saved him from falling off.

They sped across the open plains that laid on one side of the city. They passed a group of now deactivated droids and Kaiser adjusted the bike's course. They were now headed directly towards the battlefield where the Gungans had engaged the droids. They topped a hill to see the Gungans cheering and dancing while dumping deactivated droids into piles. Kaiser kept the bike in motion and headed to the camp.

They passed some deactivated scouting droids and entered the forest. Dodging trees with ease, Kaiser guided the bike into the temporary camp. After Jango got off, Kaiser did as well and walked over to one of the tents. Inside the tent, Anakin and Boss Nass were watching a holo-projection of the Gungans' battle. Kaiser walked up behind Anakin and ruffled his hair.

Anakin smoothed his hair back down and glared at Kaiser slightly, causing him to laugh as he took his helmet off. Anakin's glare morphed into a pout and Kaiser laughed again, along with Boss Nass. Jango, who had watched the whole thing, only gained an amused grin at Anakin's pout. Kaiser tossed his helmet to Anakin. "Hold on to this for me, okay kid?" Anakin nodded and ran out of the tent with the helmet. When he reached the tent flap, he was halfway through the process of putting it on. The three that remained in the tent watched him run off and Kaiser turned to Boss Nass. He opened his mouth to speak when a loud crash was heard.

All three turned back to the entrance and heard Anakin's voice. "I'm okay!"

Kaiser turned back to Boss Nass for a second time when they heard a louder crash followed by the sound of several things made of metal falling to the ground. Once more, they heard Anakin's voice. "I'm still okay!"

Kaiser turned to Boss Nass for a third time, and wasn't interrupted before he could say anything. "Maybe this time I'll be able to speak." Boss Nass chuckled and Jango gained a hint of a smile. "Anyways, as you have seen on the holo-projection, the droids have been shut down. Our space forces have taken out the control ship and our ground team has taken the city and palace. I'd say that you can recall your troops and prepare for an invitation to the palace. In the mean time, I'll take Anakin and the newest addition to my crew to our ship out in space and wait for our invitation there. I'm sure we will see each other again soon. Goodbye for now." Kaiser bowed slightly and began to leave, Jango following him.

Boss Nass spoke, halting their progress to the door. "On behalf of the Gungans, I thank you for your help in destroying the droids. Have a safe trip."

Kaiser nodded to show he heard and continued on. He found Anakin sitting on a head that had fallen off of a statue, using his helmet's zoom feature to see something off in the distance. "Anakin, we're going to leave. Come on." Anakin deactivated the zoom feature and slid off of the head. When he landed, he took off the helmet and handed it back to Kaiser. Kaiser took it and pulled it on. He walked over to his swoop bike and started it up. Anakin crawled on in front of Kaiser while Jango sat on the back again. Kaiser guided the modified bike to the clearing where their ship was.

They entered the clearing to see Krix, Dar, and Diana putting their bikes up in the Firestorm's garage. Kaiser let Jango and Anakin off before doing the same with his bike. As he left the garage and Dar, who was tuning his bike, the freighter took off and began the short flight back to the Inferno.

 **===At the Palace===**

A few of Padme's advisors were finishing up on organizing a parade, with Padme's permission, to celebrate the reclamation of Naboo. They just needed Padme's help in sending out the invitation to the guests of honor, who had helped fight the droids and protect the queen. These guests were the members of the Shadow Hunters and the Gungans. One of the advisors turned to a servant and handed him a datapad. "Please give this to Queen Amidala." The servant nodded and left. The advisor collapsed into his chair along with the other advisors.

The servant navigated the halls with expert precision and quickly arrived at the queen's quarters. He raised a hand to knock when the door opened. The servant was surprised to see that no one was near the door. Cautiously, the servant entered the room. He stopped after clearing the entry way and surveyed the room. He then saw a figure wearing a brown cloak similar to that of a Jedi sitting in a chair. He tensed as the figure raised his hands and lowered his hood. The servant's shoulders slumped in relief as he recognized the figure as Jedi Qui-gon Jinn. "I've brought something for the queen from the advisors."

The Jedi stood. "Then we shall ensure it gets there. The queen is standing on the balcony at the moment." The servant followed the Jedi out of a pair of open doors to the balcony. He approached Padme and offered the datapad to her. She took it, read it, and walked inside. The servant and Jedi followed.

Padme walked to her personal console and plugged the datapad in. She typed for a minute or so before ejecting the datapad and handing it back to the servant. "You can return that to my advisors now." The servant took the datapad, bowed, and left. Padme returned to the balcony and Qui-gon walked beside her, drawing her into conversation.

 **===Aboard the Inferno===**

As the Firestorm was landing in what had become unofficially known as the "Up Top Hanger Bay," Revan and Scath walked up. HK-47 was standing off to the side with one of the HK-50 pilots and they were talking in the unique HK series language. The pilot passed an object over to HK-47, who then walked off. The pilot walked back to the ship he piloted and began to check it over.

After Krix, Dar, and Diana disembarked, Kaiser and Anakin walked off the ramp with Jango following slightly behind. While Diana immediately leapt and latched onto Scath, Revan was about to embrace Kaiser when she saw Jango standing behind him. She also noticed the missing pieces of Kaiser's armor in addition to the new dents and scratches. Instead of hugging him, she dragged her finger through the biggest dent. "You're really hard on this armor. Are you planning on replacing it soon? And who is this? Another stray that you've added to our ranks? A true blooded Mandalorian by the looks of it."

Kaiser nodded. "Yup. Jango here is our newest addition. He has given me a good reason and I have approved it. I'm thinking that he should be under your command as your personal bounty hunter. And he is a true blooded Mando. Now, I believe that we just have to wait until-"

Kaiser was interrupted by a droid walking up to him with a datapad. "You have a message from the Queen of Naboo."

Kaiser took the datapad and looked through the message. "As I was saying, we just have to wait until we received this." At Revan's inquisitive look, he continued. "This is an invitation to participate in a parade as thanks for helping free Naboo. There is a post script that says we will receive the rest of our payment there. I'm planning on going with my beautiful wife. I just need to find her."

Revan grinned inside her helmet. "Maybe I can help you find her. What does she look like?"

Kaiser took his helmet off. "She has brown eyes that you can get lost in and is the most stunning person."

Revan took her helmet off. "I'll see if I can find her." She turned to leave when Kaiser grabbed her arm.

"I've already found her." He spun her around and kissed her. Revan melted into the kiss before Kaiser pulled back. Kaiser handed his helmet to Anakin, who ran off with a happy yell, and walked to the bridge with Revan. Scath and Diana had already disappeared, leaving just Krix and Dar in the hanger. They looked at each other, shrugged, and headed off to have a friendly competition at the shooting ranges.

As they were walking, Kaiser spoke. "I'm thinking about giving Anakin a modified version of my armor and giving him my actual helmet."

"And what are you going to use for protection?" Revan asked.

"I'll use some spare armor and whats left of mine until we can either acquire or create some new armor. I also have a feeling that we will be needed in a war in the future, but we will need more ships and personnel than we currently have. I'm mean, with the exception of the droids, which are loyal to you, we have maybe five hundred people." Both fell into thought as they walked. Suddenly, Kaiser snapped his fingers and Revan turned her head towards him. "What if we used the Star Forge?"

Revan shook her head. "It was destroyed, remember?"

"Yes, but didn't you say that you had found the original designs?"

Revan went to say no, but hesitated and thought about it. "Now that you say that, I did. While that will solve the ship problem, that still doesn't solve the personnel situation."

"Ever heard of Kamino? They have cloning technology in every city to maximize the production of clones for when they create clones for an army. We could send a small Spec Ops unit to a small and lightly defended city to take some of the equipment. By inputting it into the designs of the Star Forge, we would be able to create a clone army as needed." They turned a corner and Kaiser continued. "Using the cloning tech, we'd be able to modify the clones to create even better soldiers than the originals, as well as give them each a life of their own."

Revan nodded. "While that is a good idea, there are still several problems. First, where are we going to obtain the materials needed to create the Star Forge and our fleets? Second, where are we going to hide it from the Republic and whoever else? Third, who will train the troops if we do manage to create them and the Forge? Fourth, even if we do manage to create and train, what about age? We can't exactly have very young children going off to fight a war."

"Those are problems. I'll start with the age. The Kaminoans were able to discover how to speed up and slow down the growth of clones. If we can get this data alongside the cloning tech, we will be able to give our soldiers normals lives starting around the age of wherever their aging was slowed down at. By doing this, we can create a long living army as well as families. For training, I'll tell you later. Speaking of the twins, where are they? I haven't seen them since we split up." Kaiser looked around before shrugging. "Oh well, I'm sure they're fine. We'll probably see them when we go to the parade.

 **===Somewhere near the Queen's Palace===**

Thexan and Arcann were lounging on the top of a house and watching the city. They knew that, while they'd been left behind, they would see the rest of the Shadow Hunters soon. Arcann used the Force to call two apples to him and Thexan, along with some drinks. The venders that sold the items never noticed.

 **===Back with Kaiser===**

Kaiser continued. "We can find materials and hide in wild space."

Revan stopped and roughly grabbed Kaiser, yanking him to a stop and pinning him to the wall. "Are you crazy?! Few that go to wild space ever return!"

"I know. I also know that I came from wild space. Remember? I flew that ship that was about to fall apart and appeared so suddenly that fighting around the galaxy stopped for ten minutes. Anyways, I know exactly where we can go to create our Star Forge, fleet, and clones. Remember the stories I told you about genetically modified orphans and super soldiers?" Kaiser asked.

Revan sighed and let go of Kaiser, dropping her head as she did so. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

Kaiser pulled her into a hug and set his chin on the top of her helmet. "It's okay. It has been a few thousand years. Anyways, we can go to the remains of the humans from the stories. I passed through where they were before I arrived here."

Revan embraced Kaiser as well. After they released each other and continued walking, she spoke. "The idea has merit, but do you have directions to get there?" Kaiser nodded and they walked through the door into the bridge.

One of the droids from the navigation section spoke up. "Where shall we go, Masters?"

"Keep us in orbit. We still have things to do here. Do not fire upon any ships unless fired upon, and even then only fire to disable. Notify me and Kaiser when a ship of any sort appears," Revan said. The droid nodded and the married couple walked down the isle to look out the window at the stars. They stood staring into space for several minutes when a droid spoke up.

"We have a ship coming out of hyperspace. It's identified as a transport."

Kaiser turned towards the droid. "Mark it as a friend until further notice."

The droid nodded and did so. A droid at the communications section spoke. "They are hailing us."

Kaiser and Revan walked towards the holotransceiver. "Answer it." The transceiver lit up in blue and two figures appeared. One was short and had pointed ears and a cane. The other was taller and human. "Yoda, Mace. Good to see you again so soon. What are you doing here?"

" _We came to see the parade and speak with Qui-gon, Anakin, and the Queen,"_ said Mace.

"I understand. I'll see you planet side then." Yoda and Mace nodded and the transceiver returned to normal colors as the connection was cut. Kaiser turned to Revan. "Shall we round up my crew and make an entrance?"

"We shall. One of you droids send out a call for the crew of the Firestorm to get to the hanger."

As one, the droids replied. "Understood."

Kaiser and Revan left the bridge.

Twenty minutes later, the Hawk and Firestorm left the Inferno and flew towards the capital of Naboo. They arrived just in time to participate as part of the parade's finale. The pilots of both ships flew low over the main street and did several rolls before quickly decelerating and landing near where Padme and Boss Nass stood. The occupants of the two freighters walked out and over to the two royalty. The group bowed and Padme handed an Orb of Peace to Boss Nass, who turned to the crowd and held it above his head.

He then proceeded to yell. "PEACE!"

Music started and the crowd began to talk and move in multiple directions. The crew of the Firestorm returned to the ship while Kaiser and Revan walked over to Mace and Yoda. "Mace, I don't believe you've met my wife. This is Revan Drakon. Revan, this is Mace Windu, one of the current Jedi Masters."

Mace shook Revan's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Since you both are here, as well as Qui-gon, I can explain part of our purpose in coming. While we the Jedi won't train Anakin, we don't want whatever remains of the Sith to train him. So, I suggest a compromise that may also end up fulfilling the prophecy in the process. Since Kaiser has said that he will take Anakin with him if we won't train him, we ask that you train him in all the ways of the Force. In addition, since you probably haven't kept up with the current Jedi teachings for battle and other things, we will approve of Qui-gon's request to retire from the order so long as he goes with you."

Kaiser and Revan looked at each other. Obi-Wan spoke up. "But what does that mean about me, Masters?"

Mace turned to Obi-Wan. "Qui-gon has recommended you for the Knight Trials, as have Thexan and Arcann. When we return to Coruscant, we will give you the trials." The apprentice nodded.

"We will allow Qui-gon to come with us, but he must follow our every order and become one of the Shadow Hunters. Once he joins, he will no longer be a member of the Republic," said Kaiser.

Padme, Obi-Wan, Qui-gon, and Mace looked shocked and Mace asked the question they were all wondering. "Why?"

"The Shadow Hunters are more than a bounty hunter group. It is an organization. We are separate from the Republic, but we will come to its aid if need be. We are allies of sorts. Us providing assistance for theRepublic when needed was the trade off for us being allowed to fly unrestricted in Republic airspace and do as we please as long as we don't break the laws, or at least not get caught while or after breaking them. We've stayed close for a long time so that we would be able to know right when we were needed, but after we leave Naboo, we'll be leaving Republic airspace for a while. We won't be reachable except for an emergency number that Yoda has because we will be heading into wild space. Now, does Qui-gon understand what this means and does he still want to join?" Kaiser asked.

The shocked group looked at each other before Qui-gon nodded. "I will still join you."

Kaiser clapped his hands together. "Great. Now, we can have Obi-Wan's trials on the Inferno if you want."

Mace looked at Obi-Wan, who shook his head. "We will wait until we return to Coruscant, but thanks for the offer."

The twins walked up then. "Oh ho! They're still alive! Glad you two could make it and I'm sorry about leaving you behind. Get on the Firestorm, we'll be leaving soon," Kaiser said, giving a high five to each of the twins.

One of the handmaidens approached with a case and Padme checked the contents before showing the credits to Kaiser and handing it to him. "Here is your payment."

"Pleasure doing business with you. Stay safe and be alert. I have a feeling that something will happen in the near future. That's part of the reason we are going into wild space. We're going to prepare and I recommend you do the same." Kaiser and Revan walked back to their ships, followed by Qui-gon, who waved goodbye to the Jedi and Padme. He boarded the Firestorm with Kaiser and the two freighters flew into the air. As they began to ascend, a third ship flew into formation behind them and tapped into their coms.

" _This is Jango Fett piloting the Slave I. I'll meet you at Kamino. I'll place the tracker you gave me at the city that has at least one piece of each part of the cloning tech and work on getting the cloning instructions for my son is old enough, I'll come find you in wild space. Kaiser gave me a map. I'll be seeing you people in a few years."_ The Slave I flew out of formation when they exited the atmosphere and shot off into hyperspace.

The Inferno was already turning to face the same direction that Fett went in as the two freighters entered the hanger. In the same hanger, a Spec Ops unit was preparing three of the Kom'rk fighter/transport ships for their mission. Each ship would have two pilots and two passengers. The passengers of all three ships would gather different pieces of cloning tech and load them into their respective ships. While they were there, Jango would send all the instructions he'd found to the nearest ship to ensure that they would receive the information.

Once the Inferno was facing in Kamino's direction, it did a short hyperspace jump before simply cruising in open space to allow more time for Jango to gather information and the Spec Ops unit to prepare.

After cruising for three days, the Inferno made a hyperspace jump to Kamino and the Spec Ops unit quickly deployed and followed the tracking beacon. After a tense four hours, the three ships returned with the tech and instructions. As soon as the last ship was inside the hanger, the Inferno jumped into the hyperspace route planned out by Kaiser and Revan after going over the navigation map that Kaiser had from wild space.

Kaiser and Revan stayed on the bridge for the entire journey. Krix, Dar, Scath, Diana, the Twins, and Shmi had several competitions during the journey. The competitions ranged from close combat to ranged combat with paintballs to marksman to Sabaac. Turns out that Shmi had the same amount of luck as Diana at Sabaac and when they played as teams, she and Diana cleaned everyone out. Qui-gon began to teach Anakin the ways of the Jedi while the twins, when they weren't participating in the competitions, trained him in the ways of the true Dark side as well as the path of the Gray Jedi. There was only one disaster when HK-47 decided to teach Anakin how to assassinate people with paintball guns. Not only were several of the droids and crew members painted different colors, but Anakin was able to get the drop on HK-47 and paint him multicolors as well. HK-47 hid in his room and refused to leave until he got all the paint off. Anakin eventually went in and helped. HK-47 seemed to act like an older brother to Anakin after that, which through those that knew HK off.

After about a week, the Inferno dropped out of hyperspace and everyone got their first look at wild space. As everyone but the droids piloting the dreadnought watched out various windows and viewports, Kaiser gave directions on where to pilot the ship. They approached a green and blue planet with a space station above it in a ring shape. The pilots slowly and expertly docked the ship with the station and Kaiser gathered Revan, the twins, Scath, and Diana. He led them onto the station with weapons drawn and helmet lights on, or in the twins case, lightsabers. They walked ten meters into the station and the lights came on and machines began to power up. All but Kaiser tensed and turned off whatever they were using for light. Kaiser holstered his his pistols, drawing looks of confusion from the other five. He waved his hands around at the inside of the station. "Welcome to Gamma Station."

A door opened and Kaiser walked in with the other five following him. Inside was a control room. One of the consoles lit up and a figure appeared on it. "It's good to see you again Kaiser. What took so long?"

"I got married Doppler. I've got a few questions. Is the station still operational? Do you have all the information I asked for when I saw you so long ago?"

"Yes and yes. I was able to use the long range communications to access every file that the humans and covenant had ever created. I even found a personal AI that, like myself, discovered how to circumvent rampancy. The AI is currently controlling a damaged ship in order to get here. The AI's name is Jet and is male. On another note, I've been able to activate the multiple bases on Reach. The weapons facility is producing both human and forerunner tech as well as the energy swords from the covenant. The vehicle facilities are producing Mongoose, Warthogs with various turrets, Scorpions, Mammoths, and Mantis. The air facilities are producing Pelicans, Falcons, AC-220 Gunships, Human Entry Vehicles, Skyhawk fighters, and YSS-1000 Sabres," said Doppler.

Kaiser nodded. "Great. What about the mines?"

"The mines are operating at great efficiency. The forerunner mining robots we reverse-engineered have helped greatly in that aspect."

"Alright. If I were to upload plans into one of the computers here, would you be able to have forerunner robots build it within a few days and begin production of ships we provide the plans for?" Kaiser asked.

"We should be able to. I'll have the robots get on building whatever you want as soon as it is uploaded." Kaiser plugged a datapad into a nearby console and transferred the modified building plans for the Star Forge into the station's systems. Doppler cracked his neck. "Now, just wait and watch." A few minutes later, a line of red, blue, black, and silver appeared on its way from Reach into space. When it reached what was apparently the location they were going to, the robots that made up the line converged together and began to construct the Star Forge. By the end of the day, all that remained of the Forge to build was the inside, and the robots never stopped working.

Everyone on the Inferno slept soundly and those that boarded the station slept in rooms on board it. Kaiser was the first one up and was currently in the control room and looking out at the Star Forge that had been finished. All that remained was to power it up using both true sides of the Force and provide a sample of the material it should use to create ships and armor. One of the neat things about the Forge was that if you only had a sample of a material and tons of other materials, you could use the sample material and the Forge would take the other materials and change them to match the sample material.

When everyone else was awake, Kaiser rounded them up and had them board a Kom'rk with him. He and Revan piloted the transport to the Forge and landed in a hanger. Revan led the way through the hallways and the group eventually came to the control room. Kaiser uploaded the plans for Centurion-class battlecruisers, Interdictor-class cruisers, and Cal-class battleships. Revan walked to a different console and pressed a button. The Forge shook and 2,000 basketball sized spheres floated away to form a ring shape around it. Each sphere grew until each had a diameter of 1,000 meters. A tube grew from each and connected the the two that were closest, linking all the spheres together.

Each sphere had a cloning chamber and all the chambers were linked to the control room on the Forge. Each sphere would produce and initially contain 300,000 clones that would be genetically modified and trained in basics before being sent down to Reach for further training. Once a group was transferred to Reach, another group would be created, modified, and trained. The process would repeat itself over and over with each sphere. It would take about three months from the beginning of the cloning process for the group to be ready for further training. Once on Reach, the groups would go through combat simulations, field training, mechanical training, and various other things.

Each of the spheres were given a certain number of DNA samples to create clones from. It would select which DNA samples to use and combine them in different ways each time, effectively creating different clones for each group. Each group of clones were a family, and the reason behind the random DNA combinations were so that the clones would be able to create romantic relationships with clones from other groups and have their own family, giving them more life than many clones would get. The spheres themselves had forerunner tech included in the design, which allowed for time to pass differently inside them. One month outside was the equivalent of two years inside.

The clones would go through the training and augmentations that happened in the SPARTAN-II program so long ago. Doppler had manage to find everything about it. The difference would be that these clones would be taught how to work as a team in addition to as individuals.

After making sure that everything was running smoothly, Kaiser gathered every organic being, except Scath, on the Inferno and had them enter an augmentation room on the Star Forge. Every person, including the non-humans, received the SPARTAN-II augmentations. The non-humans had a version that was modified for their species. After the augmentations, they joined various groups of clones to train along side them, creating more respect and loyalty than the clones had before. Every member and clone learned how to use the different MJOLNIR armor and each gained their own preference, which they chose a color scheme for and would receive upon arriving at various bases on Reach with their group.

 **===End Chapter===**

AN: As I've stated for the last two chapters, your ideas and input help. They help me to be a better writer, which will give you better stories to read, and more ideas for the story. Thanks for reading.


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